In our continuing effort to provide our readers with a full picture of the power of music being made in West Virginia in 2023, Born & Bred magazine will be adding a new content feature that broadens the picture by looking at the power of the music West Virginians have made in the past. The Mountain State has produced so many amazing musicians who have helped shape American music. To help us tell the stories of West Virginia musicians who have excelled and contributed on the national stage, we turn to the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in Charleston, WV.
Did you know West Virginia has a Music Hall of Fame? Well, we do, and it’s a good one. Since 2007 there have been 9 induction ceremonies, and a total of 62 artists are now in the WV Music Hall of Fame. (WVMHOF)
Heritage and Legacy will feature our profiles of West Virginia musical artists who have been inducted into the WVMHOF. The series begins with Kathy Mattea, the two time Grammy winner and, as of September of 2021, host of the beloved public radio program “Mountain Stage”. Mattea hails from Cross Lanes in Kanawha County. She was a 2011 inductee into the WVMHOF and continues to be a great ambassador for the arts in West Virginia.
We will be presenting the artist in three categories: “Stand Alone Artist”; “Band Member or Session Player”; and “One of a Kind!” Future featured Hall of Fame artists include Bill Withers, Charlie McCoy, Blind Alfred Reed, Johnnie Johnson and Hazel Dickens.
